A Return To Classic Cuisine Chef Leads Crusade For The Rediscovery Of Cooking Basics

December 12, 1985|By John DeMers, United Press International

NEW YORK — Rene Verdon insists there's really little new under the sun -- and what there is probably wasn't meant to be eaten.

His measured voice, sounding forth from all too unlikely California, is a constant reminder there are things in this world that neither God nor Escoffier deemed worthy tenants of a dinner plate.

''Even Picasso, to be a great painter, had to know the basics of everything,'' said Verdon, who served as chef at the Kennedy White House and later opened his own restaurant, Le Trianon, in San Francisco.

''What we are having is a renaissance of the whole cuisine. There is no new cuisine, no matter what everybody says about nouvelle. Even people doing sorbet with tomato have to know the basics.''

Verdon, 61, is not at all bashful about sharing his distaste for the trendy use of nasturtiums and arugula in place of nicely cooked vegetables. Nor is he reluctant to tell anyone the most basic skills acquired by a kitchen apprentice in Europe are often ignored in his adopted country.

All the same, the chef is hopeful his new book, The Enlightened Cuisine (Macmillan, $19.95), will help cooks at all levels master the classics of French cuisine.

Though the volume is rich in recipes, it begins each section with a detailed discussion of technique, a brief history of the method's evolution and helpful hints for finding and judging the ingredients.

Verdon is adamant on the classicism of his cooking, yet he concedes some things do change for the better. In particular, he applauds what he sees as a return to sauces based on flavorful reductions of meat, fowl or fish, rather than overpowering reliance on heavy cream or carelessly applied spices.

Growing up in the Vendee area of France, Verdon had no shortage of role models. In addition to his hero, Escoffier, his father was a baker and his mother a gourmet. One of his brothers became a baker, the other a pastry chef. Musing on his own past, Verdon said he was extremely happy working as the White House's first professional chef from 1961 to 1966. The Kennedys appreciated the finest in food and took him with them on excursions to Hyannisport, Cape Cod and Camp David.

Long before it was chic, Verdon designed White House meals around the freshest ingredients he could find -- including a clam chowder John Kennedy liked so much he ordered it three days in a row.

However, this culinary Camelot proved as temporary as all the others. The hamburgers and chili ordered by Lyndon Johnson and his family eventually wore Verdon down, convincing him he should seek his fortune elsewhere.

He opened Le Trianon in 1972, with himself in the kitchen and his wife Yvette out front greeting guests. Once San Franciscans accepted the formality of his dining room (a process that took several years) Verdon saw his restaurant elevated to the rank of culinary treasure.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis stops by Le Trianon whenever she is in the city, while other celebrity regulars include former Mercury astronaut Alan Shepherd, actor George Hamilton and 60 Minutes newsman Morley Safer.

They all are drawn to the place on downtown O'Farrell Street by such classical wonders as Fillet of Sole in Surprise Yvette and Pave du Salmon Fume, along with a handful of California-influenced offerings like medallions of Muscovy duck cooked rare and scented with a piquant sauce Cassis.

''Even though I have been chef at the White House, I am still me,'' Verdon said, emphasizing his desire to look (and cook) toward the future. ''I do not change. This is the way I am born.''

FILLET OF SOLE IN SURPRISE YVETTE

8 1-lb fillets of English sole

1 tsp butter

1 tbsp chopped shallots or onions

1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, diced very fine

1/2 cup white wine (Chablis type)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp chives or parsley

Beurre manie (see note in procedure)

8 medium tomatoes

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 F. Flatten the fillets of sole with a cleaver. Roll and fasten each with a toothpick. Butter a heatproof flat saucepan, arrange the shallots and mushrooms, and place fish on top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add wine and cover with a lid. Bring to a boil and bake for about 7 minutes in the oven. During this cooking time, peel tomatoes according to the following procedure. Dip a few seconds in boiling water, peel off skin. Cut the tops off tomatoes and set aside. Scoop out the pulp. Place tomatoes in buttered heatproof serving dish. Take the toothpicks out of the fillets and put the rolled fillets inside the tomatoes, then cover with the tops you have saved. Bake in 350 F oven for 5 or 6 minutes, until tomatoes are cooked. During the cooking, add the cream to the liquid the fillets were cooked in and boil until the mixture reduces to about 3/4 cup. Thicken as desired with the beurre manie (1 teaspoon of room-temperature butter mixed with 1 teaspoon of flour), stirring with a whisk. Cook for 1 minute. Add the chives, pour sauce around the tomatoes and serve.